Heroes Turn Human - Introspect

Heroes Turn Human

Introspect
self-released; 2015

3.4 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Heroes Turn Human is a band from Sonoma, CA, that recently released their second EP entitled Introspect. If you have listened to or enjoyed bands like The Wonder Years, Foo Fighters, and Taking Back Sunday you will enjoy what this band has. The band delivers straightforward alternative rock songs but the band consistently offers inspired moments and inventive instrumental parts throughout the album. 

I thought the band was their most effective when they explored the subtleties of their music. For example the guitar parts that were picked in some off-kilter way with precision were the ear candy to me as opposed to the overdone thrashing of power chords.

The band opens with “Ghost” which starts off with a lone guitar strumming chords. After a count off the band explodes into the mix but the transition into the guitar picking and unique drumming pattern was notable. The vocalist sounds good when he sings, “I never wanted for things to be different / But I am a liar, and I am still breathless / I thought that your mirror would make me see differently / But everything’s hazy, I still see your ghost.” The band transitions into the chorus in a predictable way by hitting the drums harder and flailing away at their guitars. It’s around the three-minute mark that the band finds their most inspired moments.

The beginning of “Sentiment” is exceptional. I loved the guitar riff, steady bass and drive of the drums. The range at which the vocalist sings here is where he sounds best. When the chorus comes along the band can’t seem to escape just rocking out harder in a way you can see coming a mile away. It’s effective just predictable. 

As I mentioned previously I thought the guitar picking parts were enjoyable and “Tides” is the cream of the crop. The guitar parts were almost Pavement like at times. Around the two-minute mark the band hits one of their best moments on the entire album. It’s melodic and the vocalist is within his range. The band effectively rocks out with the vocalist shredding his vocal chords. They close with the single worthy song entitled “Fade.”

Heroes Turn Human has some talent and I encourage them to keep exploring the more melodic and even experimental tendencies. This is really where they could excel and differ from a lot of other bands that simply explore the methodic soft/loud dynamic that has been reinforced into our brains through popular music. 

These days there is such an over-flooded market of music it's simply not enough to sound kind of like that other band that a lot of other people are into. Heroes Turn Human is onto something but it doesn’t seem fully realized at this point. If they can continue to embark down the path of originality and ingenuity which they display on this EP and rely less on the tropes we come to expect they should arrive soon.

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